Alex Palou wins St. Pete but INDYCAR champ favorite status must wait

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Don't engrave Alex Palou's name on the 2025 INDYCAR championship trophy just yet.
Yes, he led 26 laps on his way to the victory Sunday afternoon in the season-opening INDYCAR Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Yes, he crossed the finish line 2.8 seconds ahead of teammate Scott Dixon and 6.2 seconds ahead of Josef Newgarden.
And, yes, he already has three championship trophies, including the 2023 and 2024 rings.
"He makes it look easy, doesn't he?" team owner Chip Ganassi said. "Makes it look easy. Doesn't sweat."
So in a world where overreacting to sports results is a favorite pastime, don't be ready to anoint the Spaniard as the 2025 champion.
His competition certainly (and expectedly) isn't.
"It's Round 1," said third-place finisher Josef Newgarden. "Let's see how it goes."
Newgarden felt he could have won but they had fueling issues.
"We just had fuel miscues two times," said Newgarden, who was running out of fuel on the final lap.
Palou teammate Dixon knew what he needed to beat Palou on Sunday after Dixon could not hear his crew tell him when it wanted him to pit — and he pitted a lap later than the crew wanted.
"Get a radio that works," the six-time series champion Dixon said on how to beat Palou. "That would be good."
Palou knows it's only Race 1 and everything went well for him Sunday. But that isn't a coincidence. His previous road/street course results are second, fourth, second, first and fourth.
"We've always struggled here for some reason, and we got it now to feel like what I need and what we need as drivers to push and to extract 100 percent," Palou said.
"That being said, I don't think that translates to other racetracks because in the past we've been struggling here but not at other places. I don't think that what we learned here we can take to [the next street course at] Long Beach."
And even though he felt better than in the past, Newgarden noted that he finished third even with the errors.
"To have miscues like that and to still finish third, I think is a great day in a lot of ways," Newgarden said. "Really pleased to come out of here with points. Obviously there's a lot more than could have been."
While he said he was really pleased, Newgarden's mannerisms showed he was bitterly disappointed. And Dixon didn't mince words.
"I'm pretty pissed off," Dixon said. "We had a good race going and we didn't get it done. It doesn't feel good."
That's typical racing. There is a winner and the rest of the field feel like losers, especially the ones who believe their lack of winning could have been prevented.
And that's where the Palou team thrives. Sure everyone makes mistakes, but Ganassi noted that Palou's timing stand where race decisions and strategy are made "has all-stars on it. In terms of strategy, calling the race, communication — there's nobody better than the 10 car guys."
Ganassi said his Dixon and Kyffin Simpson teams have work to do to catch up to Palou.
"I don't know that one race winner makes you [the favorite]," Ganassi said. "We're certainly the season favorite until next week or until the next race. What I'm most happy about is each offseason, every team does work on their cars.
"You don't sit flatfooted all winter. You're working on your cars trying to make them better. I think our cars are better than they were a year ago — at least here in St. Pete."
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Fox Sports

8 hours ago

• Fox Sports

Adames scores twice in Reign's 4-1 win over struggling Royals

Associated Press Emeri Adames scored two goals in the second half and the Seattle Reign beat the Utah Royals 4-1 in the National Women's Soccer League on Saturday. It was the first multi-goal game of Adames' career, and at 19 years and 79 days old, she became the second-youngest player to ever score two goals in an NWSL match. Elsewhere in the NWSL on Saturday, Gotham FC beat Bay FC 2-1 at home, the North Carolina Courage won 2-1 at home against the Houston Dash, and the Portland Thorns edged the Chicago Stars 1-0 to stay undefeated at Providence Park. At America First Field in Utah, the Reign (6-4-3) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Ji So-Yun scored from 14 yards out after a headed pass from Maddie Dahlien in the sixth minute. Ji then returned the favor and played Dahlien through on goal for the Reign's second goal in the 16th. Bianca St-Georges scored for the Royals in the 31st as the Canadian forward tapped in from close range after Ally Sentnor's strike rebounded off the post. Ji got her second assist of the match when she slipped the ball to Adames in the 66th and the youngster found the corner with a swift left-footed shot from 12 yards to make it 3-1. Adames converted a penalty kick in the 90th. She leads Seattle with four goals this season. It was the first time the Reign scored four in a game since May 2023. The Royals (1-10-2) extended their winless streak to eight and remain in last place in the NWSL standings as the league heads into a monthlong break. Gonzalez scores league-leading 10th goal of the season for Gotham Esther Gonzalez scored her 10th goal of the season and Gotham came from behind to defeat Bay. The Spaniard is the top scorer in the NWSL and has already surpassed her total of nine from the 2024 season. Gotham (5-5-3) won its second home match of the season. Penelope Hocking put Bay up 1-0 in the 11th minute. Hocking latched onto a looping pass from Hannah Bebar and poked the ball past Ann-Katrin Berger in the Gotham goal. Gonzalez got Gotham's equalizer in the 29th when she pounced on a loose pass in the box by Alyssa Malonson. Geyse netted the winning goal for Gotham in the 55th. Nealy Martin found the Brazilian with a bending 40-yard long pass out of the defense. It was a second straight loss for Bay (4-6-3). The San Jose-based team has lost all three of its meetings with Gotham since joining the NWSL in 2024. Befort completes comeback for Courage Hannah Betfort scored the winning goal in North Carolina's comeback victory. The Courage (5-5-3) are on a two-game winning streak and are up to ninth in the NWSL standings, outside the playoff places on goal difference alone. It was the second consecutive game head coach Sean Nahas missed due to a medical issue, but he was spotted in the stands at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Dash (3-8-2) are winless in their last five games. Avery Patterson put Houston ahead 1-0 in the opening minute of the match. The deflected strike from inside the box came after just 52 seconds and was the fastest goal in Dash history. Acting head coach Nathan Thackeray made a triple substitution in the 66th minute, putting Jaedyn Shaw, Ashley Sanchez and Betfort into the game. Dash midfielder Sarah Puntigam was sent off for a second yellow card for a foul on Shaw in the 70th. Shaw scored the equalizer with a simple finish from the center of the box in the 71st. The goal was Shaw's first for the Courage since joining this past offseason. Manaka Matsukubo spotted Betfort in the box and whipped the ball towards the forward, who got just enough of a touch to score the winning goal in the 81st. Tordin scores and Portland stays unbeaten at home. Pietra Tordin scored the only goal and the Thorns (6-3-4) remained undefeated at Providence Park this season. Portland hasn't dropped a game at home in nine straight matches dating back to last year. After a scoreless first half, Sam Coffey crossed the ball to the back post for Tordin to smash home her third goal of the season in the 59th minute. Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby recorded a team record 27th NWSL clean sheet, making three saves. The Stars (1-7-3) are winless in their last nine games. Two-time World Cup winning U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher missed a third consecutive match for Chicago due to an upper extremity injury. ___ AP soccer:

Hamilton Spectator

13 hours ago

• Hamilton Spectator

From scandal to strategy: Kyle Moyer's new role at Arrow McLaren Racing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Moyer, one of the three Team Penske executives fired during an Indianapolis 500 scandal, has been hired by Arrow McLaren Racing and will be with the IndyCar team this coming week for a test session at Iowa Speedway. Moyer was hand-selected to join McLaren by team principal Tony Kanaan. The two won the 2004 IndyCar championship together at Andretti Global. Moyer was Kanaan's team manager at the time. At McLaren, Moyer will be the director of competition and assist Scott Harner, who is the director of race operations. He will also replace Kanaan as strategist for Nolan Siegel, freeing Kanaan to work on race day with all three McLaren drivers. Moyer's official start date is June 30. Kanaan said almost the entire industry tried to hire Moyer after his May firing at Penske, but the previous relationship between Moyer and Kanaan gave McLaren the edge. 'Kyle is one of the best strategists in the paddock, so talking about his qualities, not just about him as a human being, he knows a lot about racing,' Kanaan told The Associated Press. 'Kyle probably is one of the top guys of knowledge of IndyCar — he's been around it his entire life. 'And Kyle is a people person, he's that kind of guy that captivates people and people want to work for Kyle,' Kanaan continued. 'At the same time, he is very direct and he will call you out and he makes it so every person I've ever seen working for Kyle wanted to work for Kyle. That's something that I experienced in my career and that is probably the biggest thing. The respect that I have for the guy is unbelievable.' Moyer's popularity was evident when Penske driver Scott McLaughlin lashed out after the trio of firings ahead of the Indy 500 . Moyer was let go along with team president Tim Cindric, a 25-year Penske employee, and managing director Ron Ruzewski. Moyer was Penske's general manager of the IndyCar program and the strategist for McLaughlin's car. The firings followed the discovery that the cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power had illegally modified rear attenuators; Cindric said seams on the safety part had been sealed for aesthetic purposes, but the rulebook clearly stated no alterations could be made to the part. It was the second major technical violation for Penske cars in just over a year and team owner Roger Penske was left with no choice but to fire his top three executives. Penske owns the three-car race team, the IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. 'Ultimately, those three guys are friends of mine and have done a tremendous amount in my career to get me to this point,' McLaughlin said in May after the firings. 'I guess you could say there's a sadness from my perspective. At the end of the day I drive for Roger Penske. I respect the decision. I understand the decision. We move forward.' Kanaan said he was shocked that Moyer did not have a non-compete clause and was available to McLaren immediately. He believes Moyer will be a help to Siegel, the 20-year-old in his first full season of IndyCar. Siegel heads into Sunday's race at Road America in Wisconsin ranked 21st in the standings. Moyer will eventually relocate from North Carolina, where Penske is based, to Indianapolis for his role with McLaren. ___ AP auto racing:

USA Today

14 hours ago

• USA Today

IndyCar starting lineup for race at Road America in June 2025

Road America is up next for the NTT IndyCar Series, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will lead the field to the green flag. Louis Foster won the pole for the 2025 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America this weekend. Alex Palou will join Foster on the front row for Sunday afternoon's event. It is Foster's first pole position of the 2025 IndyCar season. Kyle Kirkwood and Scott McLaughlin will follow the two drivers on the second row. Most notably, Marcus Armstrong, Colton Herta, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay, Alexander Rossi, and Scott Dixon all qualified 15th or worse for Sunday's event. It was a relatively straightforward qualifying session. The full IndyCar starting lineup is available below. IndyCar starting lineup: Road America (June 2025)